La Raza elects 2 from S.J.

Tuesday

Mar 18, 2014 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - Jose Rodriguez, leader of El Concilio in Stockton, has been elected president of the National Council of La Raza Affiliate Council and also named to the NCLR board of directors. Carol Ornelas, president and CEO of Visionary Home Builders in Stockton, was elected vice president of the NCLR Affiliate Council.

Dana M. Nichols

STOCKTON - Jose Rodriguez, leader of El Concilio in Stockton, has been elected president of the National Council of La Raza Affiliate Council and also named to the NCLR board of directors. Carol Ornelas, president and CEO of Visionary Home Builders in Stockton, was elected vice president of the NCLR Affiliate Council.

The elections mean that Stockton is now well represented at the highest levels of the nation's largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization. El Concilio and Visionary Home Builders are part of a network of almost 300 community organizations serving Latinos in the United States that are also members of the National Council of La Raza.

Rodriguez was elected in early March while he and other Concilio staffers were in Washington lobbying elected leaders on a variety of issues. During the trip, Rodriguez attended the March 4 Capitol Awards Dinner at which La Raza honored eight senators including John McCain, R-Ariz., who last year drafted a bipartisan immigration reform bill.

Rodriguez said in a written statement that he is "honored and excited" by his election to lead the Affiliate Council.

"I also believe that the election of two California representatives to lead the Council is an indication of how much the Hispanic community across this country looks to California when dealing with issues of concern to Hispanic families," he said.

Rodriguez's election to lead the Affiliate Council also means he now is one of 21 people on the National Council of La Raza board of directors.

The National Council of La Raza was founded in 1968, the same year that El Concilio (the Council for the Spanish Speaking) was founded in Stockton. Both organizations grew out of the civil rights movement of that era.

Contact reporter Dana M. Nichols at (209) 607-1361 or dnichols@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/calaverasblog and on Twitter @danareports.